Nursing tray



May 31, 1938.

F. s. SCHADE NURSING TRAY Filed Feb. 1, 1937 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR lkmwr Snazzy Scmm BY ATFORNEYS May 31, 1938. F. s. SCHADE NURSING TRAY Filed Feb. 1, 1937 2 Sheets- Sheet 2 ATTORNEYS INVENTOR flaw/r Sim/my BY Patented 4 Clial.

This invention relates to a nursing tray. It is made so as to help persuade a child to take food from a dish. The way. this can be done, according to the invention, will be explained after the drawings and description of the tray construction are given.

In the accompanying drawings- 1 Fig. 1 is a side view or the tray with the dish in it;

Fig. 2 is a sectional composite view of the separated parts; v I

Fig. 3 is a top viewof Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a bottom view of Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a sectional detail view on line 5-5 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 6 is a sectional composite view of the separated parts showing a slightly modified form of the'invention;

Fig. '7 is a side view of the assembled parts of Fig. 6;

Fig. 8 is a bottom view of Fig. '7; and

Fig. 9 is a side view of a form of the invention like that in Fig. 1 but with a slightly different arrangement of tray and dish.

The tray shell I is preferably made so that it appears as a bowl of sturdy and plain exterior construction. It may be made to appear as a simple dish like Fig. .1 or' as a combined tray or dish holder as in Fig. 9. At the bottom are shown recesses 2, Fig. 4, in which dry cells 3 may be inserted against springy contacts 4 tending to hold the cells 3 in position for energizing the electrical wiring system. The wiring, except for necessary terminals, is conveniently molded in the material of the tray, such material being made of glass, pottery, plastic or other composition that insulates, so that bare wire may be used. Centrally of the tray bottom, on the inside, is a lamp socket 5 to receive lamp I 0, surrounded by a reflector seat Ii to receive reflector l. The glass cover 8 will close the top of reflector I resting on its rim and serve as a dish supporting wall of the tray. This transparent glass 8 serves as a good surface on which a cut-out picture 9 may be laid out smoothly.

Picture 9 is contemplated as one cut from the children's page of a. newspaper or picture book.

A characteristic of the picture is that it be on semi-transparent material such as the paper of a newspaper so that the light fromlamp I0 will show brightly under the picture and go through the picture to illuminate it strongly enough to serve the purpose of the invention. Of course the picture element of the combination can be varied in a great many ways. But since it is a feature of the invention to change the picture frequently, emphasis is put on successively using cut-out pictures from the children's page of a newspaper, although of course pictures may be made up in other ways, and silhouettes may be used. This it is expected will all be managed by the nurse.

The picture element 9, as indicated, is placed on glass cover plate 8 and conveniently held in fiat position by a retaining rim I I made of rather stiil springy material with integral ears I2 tadapted to spring into holding recesses I3 in the ray.

When the parts shown in Fig. 2, with glass eating bowl iii, are telescoped together, the combination will have the simple appearance of Fig. 1--just a bowl or simple tray appearance except for a finger piece It for the lamp switch.

The lamp switch is best shown in Fig. 5 and indicated in the other figures. If the finger piece I4 is pressed, terminals I5 and I6 contact to light the lamp. Terminal I6 is in the form of a rather strong leaf spring as common in electrical switch constructions so it will open the switch when the finger pressure is released. The leaf spring as indicated in Fig. 5 is split to provide for portion I6. Finger piece It may slide back and forth like a slide switch between the two positions indicated in Fig. 5. When pushed to the dotted line position, the disk-shaped bottom of piece I4 slides under 'spring end H of aterminal in the wiring and, by having bottom disk portion I I made of conductor material, while It is otherwise a non-conductor, contact is made between terminals IG and IT, with the same result as between I5 and I6, the terminal I! having a leg, indicated in Fig. 4, to connect to the same wire W as terminal I5. Also spring terminal I! will hold the disk portion I I for switch closed position until finger piece I4 is pushed back to full line position. The wiring W to the batteries in the recesses of thetray I is clear from Figs. 2 and 4 and the switch from Fig. 5. It is a nicefeature of the invention that all this wiring W, except the necessary terminals and switch, can be molded in the insulating material of the tray I, making the latter of simple appearance mechanically, which is an advantage from the standpoint of use as a tray.

The. mechanical and electrical constructions of the combination are disclosed by the foregoing description. And it will be clear that there is provided a tray for transparent dish I3, a lamp, areflector, and a picture frame arranged in a particular manner for the particular use of coaxing and encouraging a child to eat with a strong play factor involved. The nurse may manipulate the lamp unobtrusively by the switch on the side of the tray. It is contemplated that this switch may be rather difflcult for the child to manipulate, so as to retain some mystery in the combination regarding the way to work it. One plan is to light the picture in the frame as a reward for eating to the bottom of the dish. Many uses will occur to the nurse that are unnecessary to specify here.

In Figs. 8, '7, and 8 there is shown much the same invention in the combination of a tray or holder for a drinking glass. In this combination there are some other features which I will describe. m

The principal one is the switch for turning the light on and oil. It is arranged, as indicated in the tray of Fig. 6, to turn the light on when the tray is tipped to drink from the glass or the combination is tipped up for looking through the drinking glass bottom to view the picture 28. For this purpose a mercury switch might be used, but there is shown the cheaper construction of a gravity switch as an alternative. The ball or pendulum weight 21 is hung in recess 2|, from a pendulum hanger construction of any usual kind mounted for easy turning in a socket terminal 20 of the lamp wiring. As the tray is tipped, ball or weight 2| swings over to contact the circumference 23 of the other terminal and this contact lights lamp 24. When the tray is again placed level, ball or weight 2i automatically breaks the contact and the lamp 24 goes out. Except for this feature the base of tray 25, its molded-in wiring, terminals, recesses to removably insert batteries 3, are the same as described in connection with that of the other tray.

The upper recess 28 in tray 25, however, is shown provided as a shallow recess with an elongated lamp 24 to save space. The surface of this space may be made white or of light enough color to act as a reflector and dispense with a separate reflector element. The glass cover 21 fits on a shelf of recess 28, to help make the frame for picture element 28, which as before is held flat on the glass by spring rim 29, with ears29' to snap into recesses 30. The glass 3i with its transparent bottom is put in the tray or holder to rest on top of the picture.

The nursing tray show in the three forms of Figs. 1, '7, and 9, for eating or drinking, is most useful when a child needs to be coaxed to eat. This is usually after weaning, while regular eating habits are being established, and when for one cause or another there is an apparent lack of appetite but a real need for food.

As made for the purpose, the nursing tray promptly attracts the child's attention to the food container, by the light or picture or both. The light can be flashed on and oi! or left on. There is variety in the light. There is variety in the change of pictures in the picture window which can be easily managed by the nurse's cutouts 'from newspapers or picture books and put successively in the tray. There is also variety due to the different effects given by the kinds and amount of food in the dish through which the light can show more or less. The idea is to first attract the child's attention to the dish, then hold the attention, and use the variety of ways to coax the child to give attention and take the play-all of which tend strongly and pleasantly to divert the child from the mere task of eating to something else, but nevertheless holding attention to the eating act as the child's part of getting at the picture. These effects, managed by the nurse, can be graded nicely to coax the child to do what the nurse wants, which of course is to drink the milk and eat the food at the right time. The tray is the means to the nurse's main object.

Of course the tray is also useful as a plaything,

even when the child's appetite is all that one desires. In such a case the mild play element gaming the time of eating tends to improve diges- I am aware of prior art children's dishes having pictures made in the dish material. I am claiming as my invention specific improvements going to do more than that general idea will do for the child. These improvements are pointed out in the following combination claims.

I claim:

1. A nursing tray for a single dish comprising in combination a base portion having a plain exterior, a rim to hold the dish centrally of the tray and within the body of the tray and its rim, a hollowed out space extending down from the rim, an electric lamp, a reflector, and a picture frame within said space, the frame being located centrally of the rim and at the top of the reflector, additional hollowed-out space adjacent said aforementioned space, batteries and a switch in said additional space and a transparent dish for the tray adapted to rest within the rim with the dish bottom above the picture frame.

2. A nursing tray comprising a body of insulating material having a hidden recess space for dry batteries in its under surface, a picture frame mounted across the walls of a dish-receiving opening extending downwardly in said tray from the upper surface thereof and a recess for a lamp under said frame, a support in the dish-receiving opening for a transparent dish or glass to set above the picture frameand wiring between the battery recess and lamp recess, said wiring between said recesses being molded in the tray body of insulating material.

3. The combination of a child's nursing tray made up of bottom and side walls, means to reflect light upwardly within the side walls, a lamp in the tray to furnish such light, removable means to hold a translucent picture sheet extended across between the side walls of. the tray and above said lamp, and a food dish having a transparent bottom wall, the bottom portion of saiddish and the upper portion of said tray being made to telescope one with the other and thereby tained electric circuit and batteries in said tray for its lamp, and a weight operated switch to operate said lamp circuit upon tipping of the tray.

FRANK STANLEY SCHADE. 

